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A ‘Homestead’

Country Music Club Publication

Issue No #14: April 2017

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Norm Smith : Music Maestro whose invaluable knowledge of

chords, musicianship, sound and stage remain a Homestead blessing.

..Index .

♫ Editorial “My Say” Segment P 3

♫ President’s Prattle P 4

♫ Member Biography Allan ‘Windy’ Handsley P 6

♫ Graeme Connors P 7-8

♫ Eye on Stage P 9

♫ Tony Harold supports Leukemia Foundation P 10

Contacts …

President Barbara Hall Ph: 07 5496 1487 or 0411 602613 Vice-President Bob Cole Ph: 07 54838236

Secretary Peta-Maree Thornton

Treasurer Frank Moroney Ph: 5493 0974

Webmaster John Boetje Ph: 3889 1185

Magazine Editors Trevor Tinworth Ph: 3886 1880 Beverley Sweeper

Refer Homestead Web page for further information and email addresses

Front Cover:

Quotes for Month

“If you play a wrong note, it is INSIGNIFICANT, ..but to play without passion is INEXCUSABLE”. Ludwig Von Beethoven

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“My Say” Segment

We are all different and our individualistic attributes define who we are and

what we aspire to become.

Where there are some in society who, at some stage down the track of life,

decide that things are as good as they are going to get and decide to

plateau, drift along, smell the roses and take the easy chair; …the same

cannot be said of the true musician. He/she will always find some reason

or opportunity to aspire for another rung up the ladder, redefine themselves

and even the more moderate, true muso will endeavor to improve,

outperform previous performances and in most cases, seek to learn more

from their preferred art [music].

As one renowned rock guitarist recently said, Music will never let you

down… It is the voice of your soul!

However, today’s inspired individuals are motivated by the world that they

live in; one that is fast moving and exciting.

So what motivates us to put in that extra effort and excel?

We have more Technology at our fingertips than ever before and being

relevant is paramount, so we seek new ways to learn and progress. Each

little achievement is nurtured as part of that next step up the ladder of

improvement.

Uncertainty and Self-confidence act as catalysts and will drive all true

artists towards perfection. Our own Self-indulgence compels us to put

things into proper perspective and this will push us onwards and provide

motives to further achieve. A strong will to prove others wrong will

likewise drive some to excel. Impact is something we tend to want the

opportunity to create. Search as we may, sometimes this will elude us.

But it won’t stop us from looking!

Nevertheless, happiness is the ultimate motivator. It fuels our self-esteem

and gives us satisfaction and hope.

Go for it Homesteaders! It’s worth the effort and you will find joy and

fulfillment at the end of the rainbow. TT Editor

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PRESIDENT’S PRATTLE

Welcome to our first Magazine of 2017 and to our third social. Already Homestead and Homesteaders have been busy entertaining and fund raising around the ridges. Bek Thornton was a guest artist on February 1st at Sundowner CMC. She acquitted herself very well by mixing modern music with a few older standards to suit the ‘Mature audience’. “Boots are Made for Walking” and “Folsom Prison Blues” got the shoes tapping and hands clapping but the feedback of her whole set was excellent. Good work Bek. Many thanks to all those who supported Tony Harold and Jonathan Sweeper in their fund raising efforts for ‘World’s Greatest Shave’. Some of us headed into Caboolture Hub to help with a sausage sizzle and watched the final event unfold – Tony getting beard, hair and eye brows taken off and Jon getting a close head shave too. Great effort Boys.

Bob Cole had a gig at the recent Stoney Creek Mini Muster (Angel Care flight fundraiser) on 7th 8th and 9th April for which Peter and I supported with Bass and back-up vocals. Norm Smith was also in attendance and part of the Play-itt band and Jen Sjaan (Cole) had her own spot before daddy Bob. What a great initiative this annual event is as the three day event has live music, raffles, auctions and camping and all the proceeds go to Angel Flight - Established in April 2003 , this charity coordinates non-emergency flights and assists country people to access specialist medical treatment that would otherwise be unavailable to them because of vast distances and high travel costs. All flights are free and assist passengers travelling to or from medical facilities almost anywhere in Australia. Steve and Heather are off on another world-wide jaunt so we have Liam Kennedy-Clark stepping very capably into his shoes. Peta-Maree has also stepped up and now shares the rhythm section with Boppa and Norm. It’s lovely seeing our younger Homesteaders giving back to us ‘oldies’. Homestead is running a sausage sizzle at Bunning’s on Saturday 27th May – profits of which will go toward this year’s Youth Talent EXPO. If any members would like to help, please talk to Peter but EVERYONE come along and buy a snag or two. We want to make this one even more successful than last year. Enjoy your night folks. Cheers Barbara

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ON THE NOTICEBOARD - 2017

Concert April, 15th

Concert May, 20th

Expo Fundraiser, Bunnings May, 27th

Homestead Junior Expo August, 5th

Raffle Results

February

Prize Sponsor Winner Light Box Homestead Bob Bishop Glasses Homestead Jenny Eggleston Stihl Pack Stihl Sandy Skin Care Cheryl Tinworth Bill Turgeon Pot Plants Homestead Sandy

March

Prize Sponsor Winner Esky Homestead Lorraine Eilola Pot & Veges Marion Boetje Queenie Stihl Pack Stihl Pam Moroney Towel Homestead Jeanette Goldman Handbag - Glass Marion Boetje Leonie Hanton

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Member Biography

Allan Bryce

HANDSLEY

Born in Rockhampton, Queensland, September 22

nd, 1933; the second of

twin boys and brother Don, five years our senior. Having been educated at Allenstown State School (1939-1947) and then Rockhampton Boys’ Grammar (1948- 1949); I

served a six year apprenticeship as a Metal Machinist. I met my future wife, Moya, in 1954. Then in August 1957, I spent two years working in the United Kingdom. Moya and I were married in May, 1960. Then it was off to work in Papua, New Guinea in 1961 where we stayed until January 1972, seven of the ten years in Rabaul; - Bliss!! In February 1972, we moved to Hong Kong with our three daughters, Donna, Wendy and Jane. Ian was born in Hong Kong, February, 1973. He, and his now Japanese family, (also with four children), reside in Japan permanently. We visit often. I started playing mouth-organ, (not very well), at age eight (8); and then gave it up at age 15 when I discovered girls and motorcycles! I took up the chromatic harmonica in the year 2000 and been having fun with it ever since. Around 2004-2005, I joined Homestead. I love it lots!! There we have found great music and great people! And a super talented band as well ! Love Yez ! Allan ‘Windy’ Handsley 83.5 years old

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Graeme Connors

The Ultimate Country Music Queenslander

Hi Homesteaders, Bob Cole here. I’m always prattling on about how Graeme Connors is my favourite singer/songwriter. I thought it was time to educate you all about this exceptional Queensland country music composer and performer. Born in 1956 in Mackay (this bugger is older than me!), Graeme has been writing songs, both for himself and others, since the late 70s. As of 2017, he has released something like 20 albums, has received 14 Golden Guitar awards and is held in the highest regard by those who know and love Australian country music. Graeme released his first album, When the Morning Comes in 1976. It received some good reviews but did not exactly take off. He then got stuck into writing songs for a range of well-known performers such as Slim Dusty (We’ve Done Us Proud), John Denver (A Little Further North) and Jon English (Hot Town). This honed his skills in writing in a range of different styles and for different purposes. All of this creative effort eventually led Graeme to focus in on what was most important to him – his family and his beautiful home town in North Queensland. What resulted would kick start a career that would last a lifetime. In 1988, he released what has become his ‘signature’ album North through the ABC label. With such beautifully written and poignant songs as A Little Further North and Let the Canefields Burn, this album remains one of the biggest selling Australian country albums of all time. It is still in such great demand that it was re-mastered and released again in 2014 as North – 25 Years On. Younger country music fans are now hearing these great songs for the first time and they seem to appeal just as strongly to this new audience. Graeme Connors concerts always seem to have a fair spattering of these new, younger fans.

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Graeme’s latest album, Sixty Summers – the Ultimate Collection, is clearly a celebration of reaching 60 years of age and still enjoying life and playing music as much as ever. Listen to the lyrics of the title track and you’ll learn that 60 is the new 4-0! There’s hope for us all yet it seems… The many albums in between North (1988) and Sixty Summers (2016) cover all aspects of Graeme’s life journey. For example:

Tropicali (1991), includes many tracks influenced by the South Sea Islander people who worked on the sugar cane farms of North Queensland. In fact, he uses many of these people as his backing singers on the albums;

Homeland (1993) celebrates all aspects of the Australian lifestyle;

One of the Family was released in 1997, essentially a kid’s album, but there is plenty there for adults to smile at too; and

The Last Supperteers, a collaboration with Fiddlers Feast, some of Australia’s finest strings players.

There are, of course, so many more albums full of great songs. And the latest is always the greatest - Sixty Summers, where Connors says that he’s now “right smack dab where I wanna be.” He’s seen sixty summers and still he wants more. Sixty summers and he ain’t done yet. If you’ve never taken the chance to see Graeme Connors in concert, I would encourage you to do so at your earliest convenience. His tour dates are available at graemeconnors.com Cheers, Bob.

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Eye on Stage

The first concert for the New Year in February kicked off in top gear

with Peter’s rendition of the Eagles’ “It’s Your World Now”. This

was followed by a brilliant night of entertainment for our much valued

audience. As usual all band members were in fine form and the

canteen ladies and barmen kept everyone nicely fed and watered

Our March concert landed smack bang on St Patrick’s Day with

band, performers and audience members getting into the theme

by wearing green clothes and hats. Of course our stage was

appropriately decorated in green streamers to mark the

occasion. Our littlest entertainers were right up there with April wearing

beautiful flowers in her hair and Jay with smart green braces and hat. They

both performed beautifully as did the rest of our entertainers!

Here’s a shout-out for the hard work and dedication of our wonderful band

who come together every Tuesday to rehearsals and play all night long to

ensure our members can bring their best on concert night. Our sound man

Jonathan who ensures we all sound crystal clear and at our best on the night

and everyone who helps set-up and pack-up are really appreciated.

But back to the March concert; the array of song choices was wonderfully

diverse as usual and delivered something for everyone’s taste. Audience

participation was animated with some singing along and others kicking up

their heels on the sidelines. What is astounding is that frequently the

dynamics of our band changes with the introduction of artists playing

guitar, mandolin, piano, drums, harmonica, saxophone, flute, violin etc…

Yes, it seems at Homestead we have it all at one time or another; so

pleasing to the ‘Eyes on our Stage’ each month and of course the ears! We

certainly hope to see you all again at our next concert. Beverley

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The World’s Greatest Shave is the main fundraiser for the

Leukemia Foundation. Participants pay, as part of their donation,

for all the promotional items they purchase, and therefore 100%

of funds raised goes straight to this worthy cause. Only 15% is

allocated to administration, which is unheard of in most charities.

Homestead member Tony Harold did a sterling job of

organising and participating in this special event at the

Caboolture Hub on Saturday 18 March 2017. Jonathan

Sweeper also joined in, having his head shaved at the event

and helping out with the sausage sizzle. Special mention

goes to the efforts of Tony’s wife Rosemary who ‘Stood by

Her Man’, ensuring that the day was an outstanding success!

Susan Lamb and Adrian Raedel, had a menacingly

good time shaving Tony for this worthy cause. There

was lots of laughter and good cheers and now our

Tony has cold… cold ears! He’ll have to wear a

beanie to the shops to protect him from the air-

conditioning! It seems that ‘Shave for a Cure’ is also a

‘Fountain of Youth’ as Tony looks 15 years’ younger.

Seriously though; Australian scientists have already

discovered the role of protein in patients’ blood allowing them to

personalise treatment for a patient before they relapse or lose response to

their therapy, saving a lot of lives. Research costs a lot of money and

advances in Medical Science supporting Leukemia ensure patients are the

real winners! A host of helpers from Homestead ensured the day was well

supported. Details and photos can be found on our ‘Homestead Country

Music’ page on Facebook. Three wonderful local hairdressers volunteered

their skills on the day and deserve our support next time we need a haircut.

They were Tara from ‘Contemporary Hair Concepts’, Belinda from

‘Roaming Styles’ mobile hairdressing and Alana from

House of York Hairdressing. Madhu’s Hairdressing kindly

volunteered as stand-by hairdresser on the day.

All credit to Tony with an overall effort exceeding $2,000!

As Tony says, “I’m passionate to help find a cure for these

terrible diseases”.

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COUNTRY MUSIC CLUBS - Monthly Date Claimers

First Friday

Pine Rivers

Kallangur Community Centre

7:00 pm

First Saturday

Brigalow

Redlands Mod.

Country Roundup

Wagner St., Eagleby

Sports Reserve, Thornlands

Narangba Community Centre

6:45 pm

5:30 pm

12 noon

First Sunday

Coal City

Gold Coast

Sundowners

Booval Bowls Club

Southport Bowls Club

Geebung Bowls Club

1:00 pm

1:00 pm

12.00 Noon

Second Saturday

Blue Denim

Northern Suburbs

Progress Hall, Clontarf

Memorial Hall Gympie Rd. Bald Hills

7:00 pm

12 noon

Second Sunday

Maroochy River

Golden Wattle

Twin Rivers

Bli Bli Hall

Cedar Street Wynnum

Wagner St., Eagleby

1:00 pm

12:30 pm

11.00am

Third Friday

Homestead

West Moreton

Stanmore Hall, Caboolture

Ipswich Showgrounds

7:00 pm

7:30 pm

Third Saturday

Boonah

Boonah Golf Club

7.00 pm

(even months)

Third Sunday

Guanaba

Redcliffe

Heritage Park, Pimpama

Redcliffe Showgrounds

12 noon

11:00 am

Fourth Friday

Redcliffe

Redcliffe Showgrounds

7:00 pm

Fourth Saturday

Country Flavour

Min Min

54 Rinto Road, Eagleby

Kruger Hall Ann St, Kallangur

12 noon

1.00 pm

Fourth Sunday

Blue Denim

Roadhouse

Bribie Island

Progress Hall, Clontarf

Wagner St., Eagleby

Bribie Island Recreation Hall

158 First Ave Bribie Island

1:30 pm

12:30 pm

11.00 am

Last Sunday

Cane Country

Laidley

Jacaranda Avenue, Kingston

Exchange Hotel, Laidley

1:00 pm

1:00 pm

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We would like to recognise and thank the following Sponsors:

Chainsaws, Grass Trimmers, Mowers & More…

Stihl Shop Morayfield Beerwah & Palmwoods Hotel

R & R Hire for all your music requirements

Printing of ‘LOW DOWN’

Courtesy of

Moreton Bay Regional Council

Homestead

Country Music Club Est. 9/7/96

Want to read more!!

For those interested in copies of previous editions, go to the Homestead website http://www.homesteadmusic.org and then check out

the Magazine page by clicking in the top left. You will find copies of “LOW DOWN” in Newsletter format.

also… Locate us on Facebook ‘Homestead Country Music’